Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images

Hollywood — not unlike a server job at a chain restaurant — has a way of creating cross-generational friendships that might otherwise be unlikely to form naturally. Take, for instance, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg or Colin Farrell and Elizabeth Taylor. The latest addition to the Unexpected Celebrity Friendship canon is none other than Dakota Johnson and Madonna, who, on the surface, don’t seem to have much in common other than being fans of Madonna.

In July, Johnson was featured in Madonna’s birthday-party Instagram dump looking thick as thieves with the pop star (and Dave Chappelle). In an interview with E! News on Wednesday, Johnson acknowledged that their friendship is “weird,” but she explained that she’s actually known the singer since she was a child.

“I really love her. We’ve been, like, weird friends for a while. I met her when I was really young because she did a movie with my stepfather,” Johnson said, referring to Madonna’s role in Evita starring opposite Antonio Banderas. “I got to know her later because we were going to work together on something,” she continued. While that project never came to fruition, it turns out that Madonna liked Johnson’s vibe, and the feeling is mutual.

“We’ve always kind of circled each other, but she is an energy to be near that is so beautiful and so wild,” Johnson said. “It’s just cool that she even wants to talk to me.”

Not to be greedy, but I would love some more details. Was Madonna enamored by Johnson in A Bigger Splash, or was it the 50 Shades movies that sparked a desire to collab? Did their friendship overlap with Johnson’s relationship with ex-fiancé Chris Martin, who was once reportedly so “disgusted” by Madonna’s behavior that his then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow ended her friendship with the Queen of Pop?

The top question with any out-of-the-blue celebrity-friend pair will always be the same: What the heck do they talk about? The world may never know — although I wouldn’t be surprised if Madonna also loves sleeping.

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